It is known to provide a safety belt in association with the seat compartment of a shopping cart. The safety belt usually consists of two belt sections secured to the backrest or any other suitable frame portion of the shopping cart adjacent the seat compartment. The free end portion of the seat belt portions are provided with male and female connectors which interconnect together whereby to restrain a child seated in the seat compartment. A disadvantage of such belts is that they often tangle up with the backrest which is a hinge frame and become jammed between the backrest and the side wall of a shopping cart or the seat of the seat compartment after the child is positioned in the seat compartment. The belt is therefore unusable in this condition and it is then necessary to remove the child and untangle the belt to place it about the child. Most often, the user will not take the time to correct the situation and the child will remain seated without the safety harness about him.
Another disadvantage of these safety belts is that they are located in an area of the shopping cart where there are moving frame members, and namely, the back wall of the cart and the backrest of the seat compartment. When shopping carts are nested one within the other, the backrest will collapse on the back wall of the shopping cart and the back wall will be hinged upwardly and often cause the belt to jam between the backrest and back wall and also between the side walls of the shopping cart and often cause the connectors to break making the belts unusable.
Another disadvantage of known safety belts for baby seat compartments of shopping carts is that they are difficult to install and often require brackets which need to be secured to wire frame members of the backrest and this may be a nuisance to the child seated in the seat compartment and difficulty of repair. Known safety belts also over restrain the child preventing safe movement and cause pain.